Scarlet Storm
by Rinikittybabe
Summary: When Yunsung runs away to find the Sword of Salvation Seung Mina follows him. But the journey may be more than either of them can handle on their own... Previously called Crimson Storm. On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As awesome as this game is I do not own it or Seung Mina and Yunsung or any of the other characters to be introduced in this fanfiction. (Besides a couple of very small side characters. -)

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Seung Mina tied her hair up into her traditional ponytail, further securing it with pink ribbons, which she placed at precise intervals in her chestnut locks. She had grown considerably lately, both in bust and stature. As she fastened her breast band and sparse armor she cursed this fact. If she had not been so developed she might have been able to pass for a man long enough to save her father and master of the dojo, Seung Han Myong, from going to fight in the war against the oncoming Japanese. A few weeks ago her father had been commissioned to fight and she had run away to help him for the second time, and for the second time her father's favorite student, Hwang, had brought her back. She couldn't stand Hwang. He was such a little suck up. She thought this over as she continued to dress, adding her leather belt with orange fabric which, though it barely fit the requirements, Mina thought of as a skirt. She then put on her boots, gloves, and headband, which she used solely to keep her hair out of her eyes. Mina was dressed today as she always was. For battle. She could have easily taken her father's place in the army if she had been given a chance. She was almost as fine a warrior as he was. She had been training since she was little, after all and besides her father there were only two other people who could defeat her in the whole Seung dojo.

"Seung Mina! It's terrible!" A young female servant dressed in the traditional Korean hanbok ran in the room. The girl's hanbok was a beautiful pink and blue much like the one Mina wore on special occasions. Her black hair was worn in a tight bun and her brown eyes showed panic.

"What is it, Li Yung?" Mina picked up her staff resisting the urge to twirl it lest she should only scare the young servant girl more.

"Yunsung is gone!" Li Yung's eyes looked about to brim over with tears and she was shaking slightly. "And worst of all he took the White Storm with him!"

Mina froze at those words. It was Yunsung's own business if he wanted to leave but he had no right to take the White Storm. True, she had given it to him and not told him when she wanted it back, but she had meant it for soul searching not for him to keep. Despite this she couldn't help feeling somehow responsible for it all. Mina clutched her own weapon, Scarlet Thunder, and ran out of the room to tell her father the news.

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The lanky teen who was causing so much trouble at the Seung dojo sat sprawled out in a tavern. He had been traveling since early morning and Yunsung figured he could use some rest. According to how he calculated it, his disappearance wouldn't be noticed until around seven. He always got up at five but the dojo really wasn't alive until six. He yawned, wondering what time it was and picked up his chopsticks to eat more rice.

"Miss!" Yunsung beckoned to the waitress and she turned to look, blushing slightly. He was a handsome young man with toned muscles and flaming red hair, which gave him and exotic look among the dark haired residents of Korea. It must be admitted, though it was not to his credit, he used his looks to get what he wanted quite often.

"Y-yes?" The waitress stuttered. She was a pretty little thing who looked to be no older than sixteen was and dressed in a Korean hanbok. The bottom of her hanbok was a vibrant red while her torso was covered in gold and her dark hair, done into flattering pigtails with curls, was held up with red ribbons which brought your eyes to her face.

"What time is it?" Yunsung flashed a smile, which caused the poor girl to blush such a bright red that it rivaled that of her hanbok.

"A-a quarter past seven." The girl stuttered, looking down into the stack of menus she held.

"That so?" So they would have discovered his absence by now. Yunsung picked up his chopsticks, finished his rice, and set some gold pieces on the table then, left as quickly as he had arrived.

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Seung Mina rapped on Seung Han Myong's door. Her father was preparing for battle and had asked to be disturbed only by Mina and only in a time of emergency. He was a formidable man. It was no wonder that the servants had left the task to her.

"Who is it?" Her father bellowed. He had a deep voice that rang and demanded attention.

"It's me! Mina!" Mina yelled balancing herself with her staff.

"Come in." Han Myong said calmly, unaware of the commotion outside his door.

Mina slid the door, open pausing a second to run her fingers over the golden carvings that decorated the large red panels. She had loved this woodwork when she was little and knew it almost by heart. Mina shook her head remembering the task at hand.

"Yunsung is gone." She said quietly, looking out at the dojo grounds that could be seen from her father's window. Despite the outburst caused by Yunsung and the White Storm's disappearance there were still mock battles going on outside.

"Mina…" Han Myong sighed not moving from his meditative position. "You know he has the right to leave. We don't keep students here…"

Mina shook her head. "That's not the problem, Father…" she bit her lip trying to deal with the pangs of guilt she was feeling.

"Then speak, child. What is it?"

"He took the White Storm with him."

Seung Han Myong got up. "How? The room the sword is in is sealed so that only Seung family members can ent…" He stopped suddenly seeing Mina's hung head and guilty expression. "You, Mina?"

Seung Mina nodded. "I meant for him to use it for soul searching. He was so angry when Hwang refused his challenge… I never thought he would take it."

Han Myong's anger melted as he saw his daughter's pure intentions. She was growing into a fine young woman. "Still, this is a problem…" the dojo master rubbed his chin. "Neither Hwang nor I can be spared from the war and no one else in the dojo is strong enough to defeat him. Despite his impudence he is a talented fighter. I may have to meditate before I can come up with a way to get the White Storm back…"

"What about me father?"

Han Myong looked up. "You, Mina?"

Seung Mina looked him straight in the eye, determined. "I've beat him before. Besides he is too proud to fight a girl, and I am the only one who can make the journey."

"There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" He looked up, catching his daughter's nod. "Then I'll give you my blessing."

Mina bowed deeply. "Thank you Father." As she turned to go, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Mina… Be safe." The man held his daughter for a minute, then she smiled at him and nodded before she left to get ready for her journey.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: As awesome as this game is I do not own it or Seung Mina and Yunsung or any of the other characters to be introduced in this fanfiction. (Besides a couple of very small side characters. -)

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_Yunsung sat in his window at the Seung dojo overlooking the training grounds. Though he was only 15 he had already grown quite strong and could easily defeat the boys in his class. The only people at the dojo whom he had a chance of a fair fight against were quite busy, as most of them were teachers. This left Yunsung alone and bored quite often. _

"_Yunsung." The boy looked up to see the master of the dojo, Seung Han Myong, looking at him and he quickly stood up. "I've found someone for you to battle."_

_Yunsung smiled cockily. "This should be fun."_

_Han Myong smiled. "I don't think it will be as easy as you think." The two walked together through the halls of the dojo until they arrived in one of the many training rooms. Yunsung looked around puzzled. The room was unoccupied, save for a girl. _

"_Who am I fighting?" The boy asked confused. _

"_Me." The girl walked towards him holding her staff behind her. She was large-breasted and scantily dressed causing Yunsung to blush. _

"_I can't fight a girl!" He protested. _

_She looked at him angrily. "Excuse me? I'm not just any girl. I'm Seung Mina." Yunsung looked at her. So this was the master's daughter. He'd heard rumors of her beauty but until now he'd thought they were just that. Rumors. Now he saw they had been true. Suddenly she slashed at the boy and Yunsung did a backflip barely dodging her attack. "Buck up, boy. You better take this seriously unless you want to die." _

_Seung Han Myong laughed. "Try not to bloody him up too much Mina," he said as he left. _

_Mina smiled evilly. She spun slightly, ignoring the weight of her weapon, and kicked him in the gut. She then repositioned her staff and began hitting him as he desperately tried to dodge. This continued for a few minutes, as most of Mina's attacks hit their target and the rest that didn't tired Yunsung with the sheer speed he had to use to avoid her blows. "Are you really that proud? If you don't fight me I will kill you!" _

_Yunsung looked at her and realized she was serious. He pulled his sword and slashed at her. "There! You happy?" he yelled, frustrated by the stubborn twenty-year-old. _

_The girl smiled. "Now that's better! Unfortunately for you… It's too late!" She brought her staff down on him knocking him to the ground. Yunsung had already used up too much energy fighting to defeat her. Besides he wasn't as talented a fighter as she was. But when she was fighting him she had felt something. A strength which was stronger than any she had felt before. A strength that was raw and not at all honed but, if trained properly might someday be even greater than Hwang's. _

_Meeting Mina that day gave Yunsung his reason to train. He wanted to become stronger. So beginning the day after their battle Yunsung got up at five AM to practice in secret by himself and every day he fought with the master's daughter. Until one day when he was 18 he finally beat her and that was the day that he challenged Hwang, the best student in the dojo. Hwang refused him, which pushed Yunsung to anger and despair. And then… Mina gave him the White Storm. The sword that was said to be able to see in your soul and reflect your heart back to you. That's when Yunsung saw the evil overshadowing Korea and knew he had to stop it._

Yunsung shook his head realizing he had been daydreaming. Why had he been thinking of Mina? He blushed slightly scratching the back of his head. Then he looked down at the sword. Yes… That had to be it. He was just feeling guilt for taking the White Storm. So he continued, choosing to ignore the gleam of truth that radiated from the blade.

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Taki stood on the deck of the ship staring out across the waters as the shores of Korea neared. She could feel the evil growing in the tingle of her blade and she knew she was once again headed for Europe and that same dark sword.

"We should be there in about an hour Miss…" the shipmate looked at her greedily and she slapped his hand before it could reach anywhere she didn't want it to go.

Taki had paid a great deal in gold and blood to get onto a ship which would take her to enemy Korea where she could change to a ship which would see her through to Europe. Still… The only type of ship that would bring her to enemy soil was up to no good and it was certain none of the crew could be trusted. So she had been more careful than ever to sleep with her swords close by.

"Leave me." Taki continued to stare out over the ocean. She had never been one for words and now more than ever she wanted to be left to her own thoughts.

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Seung Mina walked out the East gate of the dojo carrying her bag over her shoulder. She hated good-byes and Hwang's were always the worst. He always told her to be safe and rubbed her hair like she was a little kid. Sure he was nine years older than she was but she was already twenty-three! She was a woman. Mina put the thought aside and smiled. At least Hwang wouldn't be able to take her back this time. She would have her adventure.

She spread out her map. There was really no need. The dojo was incredibly close to Seoul, the capital of Korea. She folded the map again and nodded. Seoul was the perfect place to go for information. If Yunsung had been within a mile of it she would hear about it. After about a few hours of travel she reached the imperial city. The heavy orange roof tiles gleamed brightly in the sun as if the welcome her. She walked up to the gate and nodded to the guards. Because this was the capital it was guarded and had a large wall around it. However people were almost never stopped here unless they looked particularly suspicious, though the guards did enjoy stopping pretty girls to search them from time to time. Mina was given none of this treatment. She was known well here and respected, if nothing else for her father, but Mina hoped part of the reason was her skill in battle.

"What brings you here today Mina?" The guard smiled broadly at her.

"A certain student…" Mina smiled back at him just as broadly but much more wickedly.

"What's this?" Another guard perked up his ears. He was always ready for gossip.

She shook her head. "Never mind. I'm sure the news will reach you soon enough." And so she placed her weapon behind her and moved through the gates.

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Yunsung walked though the back streets of Seoul. Unlike the entrance to the imperial city they were dirty and unkempt. This is where all the poor lived and the majority of crime was. His feet kicked up dust into the face of a young girl on the side of the narrow street. She just stared at him with wide hungry eyes as she wondered about his strong muscles and clean white clothes until the young man averted his gaze. Somehow the orphan girl's large brown eyes reminded him of another girl who longed to get away from her current situation.

Yunsung continued moving. He had gotten a tip about a ship that would carry him to Europe if he had the money and met it in time. So now he was headed to the Korean port town of Gangneung. But first he had to get out of Seoul. Of course that wouldn't be hard. All the guards here were drunk half the time. Yunsung jumped onto the wall of the city as nimbly as a cat and headed northeast.

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Hello everyone! This is Rinikittybabe! Thank you so much for reading with me this far and I'm sorry for the long wait. I swear… I've had this chapter done for a week at least and things just kept coming up to keep me from typing it up. coughlazinesscough But now it is finally done. I'll try not to make you all want so long for chapter 3. Thank you for all of your reviews and keep them coming! I love hearing your comments. And for all of you who want to know if this is a Yunsung x Mina fanfic… It is!

Once again thank you for reading! I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. -


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As awesome as this game is I do not own it or Seung Mina and Yunsung or any of the other characters to be introduced in this fanfiction. (Besides a couple of very small side characters.)

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Seung Mina sat in a bar stirring an alcoholic beverage. She had come there because of the great sources of information places like this were, but now that she was here she found her thoughts wandering so she only half heard the conversations around her. The thing was she thought she understood where Yunsung was coming from. Both of their talents had been ignored for no reason at all. For Yunsung it was his arrogance and for Mina it was the fact that she was a girl. In Mina's case she was respected for her skills but for the most part she was still seen as an object. You can be sure that when she trained it was not her technique the men were looking at but the movement of her skirt and breasts. And as much as her father loved her, some days it was impossible for him to mask his disappointment that it had been his son who had died.

Yunsung's downfall was for sure more his fault than Mina's. He was quite talented and this led him to have a great bit of pride. Han Myong greatly disapproved of this and went about trying to cure it by never recognizing his accomplishments and highlighting his shortcomings. This gave Yunsung no end of frustration.

In much the same way Mina had felt ignored her entire life. Like she was being stifled in lukewarm water, fighting, just trying to get out. She wasn't the child that Hwang and her father saw her as. She wasn't the beautiful doll the men of the dojo saw her as. She wasn't the defenseless skank the men of this bar saw her as. She was her own woman. She didn't need protection.

As these thoughts passed through Mina's head she took in pieces of the conversations going on around her. Suddenly she heard something that pushed the other thoughts out of her head.

"Did you see that redhead in here this morning?" The speaker was a bald man in his late forties.

"Maah! Little Mi Yeung really had her eye on him. I'm so jealous!" The man slammed his glass down. His eyes were bleary and he was obviously drunk.

The bald man nodded. "Such a fool. He didn't even notice. All he cared about was the Sword of Salvation. If I had his looks I wouldn't waste my time with a fairy tale."

Mina got up and headed to the two men. "Did he say where he was headed to?" The bald man looked up at her moving his eyes up and down her body, letting them linger in choice areas. Now this is what he would be doing with his time if he had the boy's looks.

"Maah!" The drunk had been looking at her as well. "Why do the punks get all the pretty ones?"

Mina glared at him. "He's from my dojo." At this she spun Scarlet Thunder for emphasis. "He and I are not together."

"Then do you and me have a chance honey?" The bald man smiled at her and Mina glared at him pointing her weapon decisively. "Gangneung." The man finished gulping. And Mina left the bar without so much as a 'thank you.'

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Taki had spent the days since she docked at Gangneung shopping and otherwise preparing for her trip. Now she was finally ready to board the ship. Taki brushed off her armor. Even when she was in Japan she had refused to wear a kimono no matter what the occasion. She was not some pretty doll or a geisha. She was a warrior. Still she did not like the stares she was getting. This was enemy Korea after all and she was trying to remain inconspicuous. She glared at a group of women in the corner. Her Korean was quite bad but she had been able to catch 'armor', 'Japanese', and 'unladylike' in their conversation.

"How annoying!" She muttered and walked up onto the ship.

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It took Yunsung three days of almost constant travel to reach Gangneung. But still as he entered the town he was worried his boat might have left. When he walked into the town of Gangneung the sky seemed to open up before him. It was the effect that the sudden blue of the ocean had against the perfect blue sky. But Yunsung had no time to take this in. The dock swayed under his feet, not as strong as it could have been, after decades of wear. It made Yunsung glad to see that there was at least one solid structure nearby. A little seafood restaurant placed directly next to the dock. Of course… This only made the smell of fish that was in the air worse. Yunsung covered his nose. The smell was terrible. It was nothing like he had even imagined. Living in the mountains his whole life he had eaten fish every once in a while but he had never experienced something like this stench.

In his disorientation Yunsung almost fell off of the dock. He righted himself quickly hoping no one had seen. Then to his right he heard the dreaded sound of laughter. He looked up onto the ship that he was to board and saw the form of a woman. The woman who was above him was tall and slender with dark black hair tied up to keep it out of her face. But these were not the first things Yunsung noticed. The first thing he saw were her almond eyes which were not of a Korean but of a Japanese. The second was that she was wearing the armor of a warrior.

"That was some fall boy." She looked a him the corners of her mouth and eyes crinkled in a smile.

Yunsung grimaced. He was not amused. "Why are old women always laughin' at me?" It was true that Taki was older than him. She was still young but she was at least ten years his senior.

"Maybe because you give them reason to." The woman's smile turned around. The comment about her age had been a sharp one. "Who are you to insult me boy?" She walked down the gangway up to him with her hands on her hips.

Yunsung smiled cockily. "Hong Yunsung. And you?"

"I'm Taki. And I will be the one to teach you better than to mess with a ninja." The woman unsheathed out her two swords, Mekki-Maru and Rekki-Maru. "Come on boy. I'm through with words." The ninja ran at him slashing at his chest and successfully penetrating his defenses as a few drops of blood fell to the dock.

Something the reader should know is that though Yunsung had beaten Mina once if that had fought again it could have gone either way. Yunsung's advantage on Mina had been his speed. His weapon was substantially lighter than hers making him more nimble and his movements more cat-like. Mina on the other hand had endurance and reach to her advantage. Her long weapon was heavy and gave her the strength to fight much longer than Yunsung could. So over years of fighting Mina he had learned that speed was his greatest asset.

So you can imagine his surprise when he first fought Taki. Her training as a ninja had made her quicker than anything Yunsung had ever seen. His speed would not be enough in this battle. Taki smiled, utterly amused at how his attempt to evade had failed. Another try to shy away from the woman's attack failed as one of her dual ninjato was slammed into his side leaving him once again open. Taki use the moment to move her other blade down his shoulder creating a large painful gash. Yunsung winced grabbing his wound for a minute trying to stop the flow of blood. Yunsung removed his hand a moment later so he could draw his weapon. Defense would be useless, he just had to get out there and hit her. With this in mind he pulled out the White Storm with his good arm, ready to fight.

The ninja laughed again. "Are you going to hit me little boy?"

He smiled. "Yes, in fact I am." And he charged. His first attack caught her by surprise, as Yunsung was stronger and faster now than he had seemed at first, driven by his pride and determination. The blade hit it's mark and fell across her chest. Yunsung held his arm up in a cry of victory. This was to be his undoing. Taki took advantage of the moment, slamming both her weapons into his abdomen. He yelled in pain and stumbled back, allowing the woman to deal the final blow of the battle. She grabbed Yunsung and threw him against the wall of the restaurant where he fell to the deck like a rag doll.

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Author's Notes: So here I am again with another chapter done that he had to wait longer for than you should have. (At least… I think some people are still waiting… You are, aren't you?) I hope you enjoy it and this time I'm not making any more promises about when the next chapter comes out. I may not have time for awhile because it's almost finals! Anyway… I apologize for beating up Yunsung AGAIN but for this story to work he has to get rid of some of that pride. ;)


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